The Department of State (DOS) last week published a final rule effective January 24, 2020, that states consular officers will deny applications for B nonimmigrant visas if the officer believes that the foreign national applicant intends to travel to the US for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for a child by giving birth in the US, commonly referred to as “birth tourism.” The final rule states that the DOS is addressing the issue of “birth tourism” since it “creates a potential long-term vulnerability for national security” and since the “birth tourism” industry is “rife with criminal activity, including international criminal schemes.”
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Year of the Rat
Every year over the Lunar New Year, we love seeing the incredible Zodiac Spectacular at the atrium at Crown Towers in Melbourne, Australia. This display features twelve large-scale luminous animals of the Chinese zodiac with over sixty lanterns. This year, the Year of the Rat, the exhibit also features a traditional wishing tree with red envelopes where Melburnians can express support and raise funds for wildlife relief and recovery through the work of Zoos Victoria. Visitors are encouraged to leave messages of hope as well as donations. In honor of the Lunar New Year on January 25, the Atrium also features performances by a lion dance team to “chase away evil spirits” along with a Hawker-style food market. We came across some dancers rehearsing for their performance tomorrow, and my hotel also provided some lovely Lunar New Year treats. The first animal in the twelve-year Chinese Zodiac, rats are known for “being clever, inquisitive and resourceful, which translates into a great year for new experiences and opportunities for success.” We like the way that sounds! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
The Guardian: "'Treated like a terrorist': US deports growing number of Iranian students with valid visas from US airports"
In December 2019, Mohammad Elmi, an Iranian national, traveled to Los Angeles to begin a PhD program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. But upon trying to enter the US, Elmi was stopped by US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and searched and repeatedly questioned for hours. His wife, Shima Mousavi, who is pursuing a master’s degree in California, waited near the airport for eight hours before her phone rang. “I’m so sorry,” Elmi told her. “They are sending me back to Iran.”
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Koalas of NYC
Approximately 15.6 million acres of bush, forest, and parks across Australia have burned in the horrific bush fires, according to the BBC. These fires have killed twenty-eight people so far, burned thousands of homes, and have had a devastating effect on an estimated billion animals, insects, birds, and other wildlife throughout the country, including Australia’s koala population. In response, Koalas of NYC, an initiative by the NYC-branch of the Australian agency Cummins&Partners, has launched a fundraising campaign to support WIRES (Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service), the largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation charity in Australia. To get the word out about their fundraising efforts, the agency has placed stuffed koalas in prominent locations around New York City, including Union Square, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and Central Park, and the stuffed koalas have also visited FDNY Engine 7, Ladder 1, Battalion 1 to thank the FDNY for their support in sending firefighters to Australia. A tag with a QR code is attached to the koalas that directs passersby to the Koalas of NYC Gofundme page. The Instagram account, @koalasofnyc, shares photographs of the koalas around the city. We found one outside the Oculus in downtown Manhattan and fell in love. Rachel Mitrani, New York native and creative member of the Cummins&Partners team, tells Untapped Cities: “I’ve loved seeing the reactions to our koalas. This activation reminds people of the kindness and humanity that still exists in the world. How a team, a city, a world can come together in times of crisis and shed a little light.”
Miami Herald: “Here are five USCIS changes that will impact legal immigrants in the U.S. in 2020”
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under the direction of the Trump administration, proposed a number of key immigration changes in 2018 and 2019, some of which are likely to go into effect this year. These changes, many designed to slow or complicate legal immigration, could have a significant impact on the lives of millions of immigrants in the US. Here are some changes to look out for in 2020:
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Impulse
Impulse is an interactive art installation made of twelve oversized seesaws that transform the Broadway pedestrian plazas into an urban playground. When visitors to the seesaws climb on top and move them, the seesaws glow with light and emit randomized musical sounds. Located on Broadway in the Garment District between 37th and 38th Streets, Impulse was created by Lateral Office and CS Design in collaboration with EGP Group, and first presented as part of the winter Luminothérapie light festival in Montreal. When we visited the installation over lunchtime this week, we heard a lot of happy shouts, laughter, and the sound of general merriment on the seesaws. Creos, the tour producer of the installation, says the seesaws embody “ideas of serialism, repetition, and variation to produce zones of intensity and calm” and they “animate the public space and its occupants during the cold and dreary winter.” That much is certainly true. The seesaws are on display through January 31.
US State Department Significantly Increases Reciprocity Fees for Australian Nationals in Certain Visa Categories
Effective December 23, 2019, the Department of State (DOS) adjusted the reciprocity schedule for Australia for certain nonimmigrant visa categories. This change in the reciprocity schedule is a result of Executive Order 13780 (“Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”), signed by President Trump in March 2017, that required the DOS to undertake a worldwide review of nonimmigrant visa reciprocity agreements and arrangements to ensure that US nationals receive “reciprocal treatment in terms of validities and fees as that afforded to host country nationals, as required by US law.”
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